Many companies and private concerns use business reply mail (BRM) to solicit information and responses from their customers or potential customers. As such, business reply mail has a wide variety of uses and is often customized depending upon the needs of the sender. A few examples of the uses for business reply mail are subscription solicitations, information request responses, proxy statement responses, remittance documents (invoices for payment due) and the like. Oftentimes, the business reply mail is provided to customers or potential customers as part of a direct mail campaign, an invoice or as a detachable insert in a periodical magazine or newsletter.
Business reply mail requires the sender, e.g., company, private concern, or the like, to pay for the postage of the BRM. As such, BRM is required to include an endorsement that states “No Postage Necessary If Mailed In The United States” in the upper right hand corner, along with a business reply legend, a permit number and a postage payment endorsement that states “Postage Will Be Paid by Addressee.” The delivery address printed on the BRM includes the name of the BRM permit holder. Thus, based on the permit number and name of the permit holder, the post office can determine the entity that is responsible for paying for the postage of the BRM. With BRM, however, the sender only has to pay for postage on the mail pieces that are actually returned by its customers. The sender can receive the returned BRM in one of two ways. The carrier could collect all of the returned BRM for a certain period of time and then deliver the returned BRM to the sender. Alternatively, the carrier could simply hold all of the returned BRM and the sender could retrieve it from the local post office as desired. Either way, the sender must pay for each of the BRM mail pieces that are returned.
There are currently several methods for the sender, also referred to as mailer, to pay the postal service for business reply mail. Such payment can be, for example, in the form of a check, cash, uncancelled stamps, or debit from a local non-interest bearing trust account into which money must be deposited. The United States Postal Service (USPS) also provides certain mailers with a postage payment system referred to as the Centralized Account Processing System (CAPS), which provides electronic options to presenting checks or cash in person. CAPS utilizes either a centralized non-interest bearing trust account, in which funds are deposited electronically, via standard Automated Clearing House (ACH) banking mechanisms, or a centralized debit account, in which the sender's designated bank account will be debited, via standard ACH banking mechanisms.
There are problems, however, with the conventional systems for paying for business reply mail. For example, if the mailer is paying by cash, check, or uncancelled stamps, payment must be presented at the time the BRM is delivered by the carrier or picked up from the local post office. Accordingly, the mailer must have either the correct amount of cash or uncancelled stamps, or be able to quickly draft a check for the correct amount. There is also an issue with the security of the cash, uncancelled stamps, or check if the party picking up the BRM at the USPS cannot be completely trusted (perhaps because the party picking up the returned BRM and delivering it to the sender is simply a third party courier).
In addition to the above problems, payment in the form of cash or a check adds processing costs for the postal authority. For example, it takes additional time and expenses to record and account for payments made in this manner. Since funds are collected in a distributed fashion, it is possible for funds to get misplaced and/or checks to get lost.
To overcome the above problems, the USPS utilizes CAPS as previously described. While CAPS may have alleviated some of the problems, several still remain. For example, there are several thresholds that a mailer must meet to qualify for CAPS, such as, for example, a minimum amount of postage each year. For example, to qualify for CAPS, a mailer currently must have a permit account with a minimum of $500,000 of postage each year. Alternatively, a mailer can have three permits in two or more postal locations with a minimum of $10,000 of postage per year, or three or more permits at one post office with a minimum of $50,000 postage per year. Many businesses currently do not meet any of these requirements, and therefore do not qualify for CAPS. Even if the thresholds were removed so all mailers would qualify for CAPS, several problems would still remain. For example, if large numbers of mailers utilized CAPS, there would be additional expenses for the postal authority to maintain and service the large number of CAPS accounts.
Additionally, from the mailer's perspective, CAPS also has limitations. For example, with the centralized trust account, the funds for payment of the postage must be deposited prior to receiving the returned BRM, thereby tying up funds in a non-interest bearing account. With the centralized debit account, some mailers are reluctant to provide their banking information to the USPS and other suppliers. With the use of either the centralized trust account or the centralized debit account, additional record keeping is necessary to reconcile the amount debited or charged by the postal authority. Furthermore, the USPS is not permitted to grant credit to a mailer or pay interest on deposits, thereby making it necessary for the mailer to ensure that correct amounts are available in their account or risk delays in receiving their returned BRM. Such delays could cost the mailer significant amounts in both money and customers.
Thus, there exists a need for a trusted system and method that allows mailers of all sizes to pay for business reply mail without presenting cash, uncancelled stamps, or a check at the time of receiving the returned BRM. Additionally, there is a need for a system and method that provides mailers with payment options, such as, for example, a credit line or an interest bearing account, to pay for business reply mail, reduces the amount of record keeping for both mailers and the postal authority, and provides mailers with additional resources to manage their funds more effectively.